Who created "Fairy Bamboo Garden"?

About 2 or 3 years ago, the image of a vast, shady bamboo garden in Phu Xuan hamlet, Thanh Hoa commune, Phung Hiep district, was all over social networking sites. This place is now a quite attractive tourist destination. So who created this garden, which is likened to a "Fairy Bamboo Garden"?

Although he is 93 years old, Mr. Tu Sang still takes care of each bamboo bush every day.

93-year-old man and his bamboo garden as his soul mate

Taking advantage of the last days of the year, we had the opportunity to visit Phu Xuan hamlet to meet Mr. Dang Van Sang (Tu Sang), 93 years old, the owner of this bamboo garden of about 10,000m2.

Leading us to visit the bamboo garden, looking at the bamboo path more than 500m long, surrounded by bamboo bushes bending and intertwining, attracting everyone, Mr. Tu Sang said: “In the past, in the early years when the government started dredging canals, digging soil to put on the banks for people, I tried planting sugarcane and eucalyptus, but found it ineffective. Around 1990, I decided to plant bamboo, because at that time bamboo was very popular, used to build houses, weave household items, and make bamboo... almost every house used bamboo. At first, I only planted one tree in each place, then gradually it sprouted young trees, now a bush sometimes has hundreds of big and small bamboo trees”.

There are many types of bamboo here: fat bamboo, thorny bamboo, Siamese bamboo, strong bamboo... each type has a very different price. Looking at the calloused and skinny hands of the 93-year-old man meticulously trimming each young bamboo shoot, each dry bamboo spathe... one can feel all the affection Mr. Tu Sang has for each bamboo bush that has been with his family for over 33 years. Mr. Tu Sang said: "When planting anything, you have to take care of it to get a harvest, and bamboo is no exception. I have to trim and clean it regularly like this, so that the bamboo trees will be healthy and have vitality, when looking at the bamboo garden, I can also feel its beauty".

As Mr. Tu Sang said, our first impression when entering the bamboo garden was the cool, peaceful and quiet atmosphere. The sunlight when passing through the layers of bamboo leaves also became gentle and affectionate, making us feel like we were immersed in a very peaceful garden of the river area.

When the sun rises high, every time the wind blows strongly, the bamboo stems twist and touch each other, creating special sounds that anyone who has experienced them will find hard to forget.

With the idea of growing bamboo not only to sell to improve the family economy , but also to create a unique beauty for the rural countryside, for over 30 years, in his free time, Mr. Tu Sang also spends time going to the garden to prune branches and clean up fallen bamboo leaves. During the dry season, every 2-3 days, he brings buckets of cool water to water each bamboo bush. Working under the canopy of old bamboo, the 93-year-old man seems to be healthier.

“Planting and seeing the bamboo grow day by day makes me happy, I have a lot of affection for each batch of bamboo. I chose to plant bamboo because it is familiar and has the same characteristics as our people in the past, simple, persistent, and hard to overcome. Now, every time I stand under the bamboo bushes, I hear the sound of the wind rustling the leaves, creating a melodious sound that helps me remember the memories of the old village. I remember the days when my whole family cut bamboo to build a house, I remember each bamboo basket, each bamboo woven hastily to hold the vegetables, the fish just caught in the field, or the days when I went to collect each dry bamboo branch, bamboo spathe to light a fire to cook rice…”, the old man turned his eyes tinged with time, nostalgically recalling the memories.

Tu Sang Bamboo Garden has become an impressive tourist destination, known to many visitors from near and far.

From simple bamboo gardens to unique tourism products, known to tourists near and far

With a heavy heart for the bamboo garden that he has worked so hard to take care of, around 2019, when someone offered to rent and invest in the bamboo garden as an eco-tourism destination, Mr. Tu Sang happily agreed. To him, bamboo is not only a spiritual friend, but also symbolizes the beauty of village culture, so what belongs to culture needs to be spread.

Mr. Tu Sang shared the reason for investing in tourism: “When some children in Can Tho city expressed their interest in investing in tourism, I felt very happy, because if I do tourism, my bamboo garden will be known by many people. Doing tourism is also a way to continue to preserve the bamboo garden, the image of the bamboo trees in the countryside that were once associated with the people will be closer to the younger generation in the future.”

In the early days of tourism, the bamboo garden was quite rustic and exploited what was available. Now, to turn the bamboo garden into a unique eco-tourism product, many beautiful landscapes have been invested in, with houses serving food and drinks, and rooms made of bamboo and leaves, which are very special. In addition, there are huts and wooden bridges weaving through the bamboo garden... made entirely of bamboo and wood. There are bamboo arches placed on the riverbanks, and photo spots decorated with bamboo to attract visitors. Here, visitors can admire the peaceful scenery with all kinds of birds flying around, cool green space, and dense bamboo clumps covering a large area of the sky.

In addition to the above products, the space for tourists to visit and experience the natural bamboo garden still occupies a fairly large area.

Thanks to its natural beauty combined with novel designs in harmony with nature, Tu Sang Bamboo Garden has become the most attractive picnic destination in Phung Hiep district as well as Hau Giang.

With the impressive beauty of the bamboo garden, this tourist destination was voted into the Top 7 "Vietnam Impressions 2022" in the category "Ecotourism Destination" organized by Saigon Marketing Newspaper.

SAFE

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